Again
by crbmyenthusiasm
Summary: Casey had promised herself that she would never fall in love with him again.


A/N: Hey, this is done in the same style as ONO- it's based on a song, without really being a songfic. Anyway, the song is Janet Jackson's "Again" which was a big hit like fourteen years ago.

Disclaimer: Nope.

OOOOOOOO

"Casey, I have some bad news."

Having seen Emily's name pop up on her caller ID, Casey had been smiling when she flipped open her phone. She'd been expecting to hear some good gossip or about a sale, anything but bad news.

Bracing herself for the worst, Casey asked, "What is it?"

There was a pause on Emily's end, then, "I was visiting my parent's yesterday and I saw um… well…" She broke off suddenly, and started again. "I saw Derek—he's back. For good," she added.

Casey dropped her phone.

_Derek's back?_ The only guy she'd ever truly been in love with…

"_Casey," Derek called, as he stood impatiently by the front door of his apartment. "Are you ready yet? We're going to be late."_

"_Here I come," she shouted back, and then a second later she stepped out of the bathroom. _

_Derek had to laugh at the sight of her. Her body was engulfed by one of his old Maple Leafs jerseys and she was wearing a matching hat that he had bought her for her birthday as a sort of gag gift. She looked more like an ultimate fan than a girlfriend who had gotten roped into watching a game._

"_What's so funny?" _

"_Nothing," he shook his head, "you just seem awfully excited." Off her confused look, he expanded. "I just didn't think you really wanted to go."_

"_Of course I do," she assured him. "You love hockey so much that you practically _are_ hockey, and I love you," she walked up and gave him a kiss, ignoring the uncomfortable look he was sporting. "Ergo, I love hockey too." Well, she didn't really love it; but she did love him enough to tolerate it._

The only guy who had ever really broken her heart…

"_I don't get why you're so mad," he told her._

_Casey wanted to scream, and mostly because he genuinely sounded like he didn't get it. They had this same argument at least once a month these days though; but even if they didn't it still wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out why she was upset._

"_You don't know why I'm so mad?" she repeated, incredulous. "Get for real, Derek. I mean, I'm not asking for a proposal, but would a little commitment and showing me the tiniest bit of respect kill you?"_

"_Respect?" he sputtered. "Don't you dare sit up here and try to act like I treat you like anything _but_ the Princess you seem to believe you really are. And as for commitment, I tell you how much I care about you all the time. You're my girl," he yelled at her. "How much more commitment do you need?"_

"_Hmm," she pretended to think about it, then, "I don't know, maybe you could stop flirting shamelessly with other girls. Or maybe, if that's too hard," she began mockingly, "you could just stop eye fucking every passably pretty girl you come across."_

"_That's right, I flirt sometimes," he admitted. "But I've never cheated," he told her, as if it made all the difference in the world. "Really, what's the harm in a little flirting?"_

"_It's harming us, Derek," she said. _

"Casey," she could hear Emily yelling, "Casey are you still there?"

Scrambling to the floor, Casey picked up the forgotten phone and placed it up against her ear.

"Case, you've got to be strong," Emily urged her. "Don't forget what you've always said."

Casey nodded to herself; there was no way she'd ever forget the promise she'd made to herself when she and Derek had finally called it quits… "That I'll never fall in love with him again," she whispered fiercely.

OO

But that was easier said than done.

Sure, Emily was a great source of support. And the parents, her sister, and stepsiblings all knew about her bitter breakup with Derek, and, therefore, all knew better than to have the two of them in the same place at the same time. So, she didn't have to worry about running into Derek at her mom and George's place.

Their province wasn't huge, but it was big enough, and Casey managed to avoid seeing Derek for a while. Until, that fateful day when she ran into him as she was coming out of the supermarket.

'_Out of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, he walks into mine,'_ Casey thought, feeling, and very much miserably so, like poor old Humphrey.

As they stood stock-still, staring awkwardly at each other, Casey's mind was flooded with memories of their short, but intense, relationship. Whenever she thought about the time they'd spent together romantically, she couldn't help but think about how they got together. To think, it all began with just a little kiss…

"_Inconsiderate, ungentlemanly, flaky jerk…"_

_Casey had been mumbling under her breath, since the moment Derek had arrived, two hours late, to pick her up from the airport. She supposed she could've just taken a taxi home, but _she_was too considerate to not meet somebody who was expecting her. So she'd waited, and to kill time she had come up with a very _colorful_ speech to give him. _

"…_I can't believe my mother trusted you to pick me up. I guess I should just be happy that someone with your level of intelligence--" She stopped mid rant, when he swerved and pulled off onto the shoulder._

"_Casey."_

"_What?" she snapped, both angry and puzzled. _

_He gave her a very appraising glance, and then leaned across the seat and brushed his lips, very gently and very quickly, against hers._

_He pulled back and smirked at her. "You talk too much."_

Casey shook the thought from her mind. That had always been Derek's problem—he was too impulsive, he didn't ever think about the consequences of his actions, which was exactly why they had had to break up.

True, he wasn't all bad. After all, she had been in love with him. And they had once been so close to finding happiness with each other, but he had let her slip away.

"Hi," Derek breathed, breaking into her thoughts. "How have you been?"

She wished she had what it took to exchange pleasantries like nothing had happened, the way he obviously could, but Casey didn't have that in her.

"Fine," she replied stiffly. Then, "I have to get—

"Could we get a cup of coffee?" he rushed out, interrupting her. Derek wasn't blind, he knew she wanted to escape him, but he couldn't let her go just yet.

He thought about her all the time. And even though he knew that the breakup was his fault and that she didn't want to have anything to do with him, seeing Casey in person again had still knocked the wind out of him.

Even though he knew his efforts would probably prove futile, he also knew that he had to at least try to get her to talk to him again.

But she wasn't having it.

"No." He'd hurt her once; and she wasn't about to let him get close enough to do it again. They hadn't exchanged more than ten words yet, but she already felt herself cracking. He had on his puppy dog eyes and his voice was just as deep and thick as she remembered… it was all just too much for Casey.

She knew him. She knew herself. And she knew that it wouldn't just be coffee. Nothing was ever that simple with them, and she couldn't handle it being anything more. _I'll never fall in love with you again._

"I've really got to go now," she told him, looking anywhere but in his eyes.

When Casey turned and left him standing there, he whispered sadly to himself, "But I love you." There was something akin to awe in his voice, as if he'd just realized how he felt about her.

Shaking his head and laughing, self-deprecatingly, at just how stupid he'd been all those years ago, he turned to go himself, but Casey's voice stopped him.

"Hey," she called out, sounding beyond pissed. And she was. She'd heard him, despite his cowardly whispering, and there was no way she was about to let him get away with that. "Don't you," she pointed an accusing finger at him, "dare stand there and tell me you love me, and then leave me again." There was a definite threatening quality to her voice, and Derek simply stared at her a moment.

Then, "Why?" he demanded, hotly. "Judging by the way you just declined my invitation, not to mention the way you've been dodging me since I moved back here, it's obvious that you don't want to see me or talk to me. So why should what I'm feeling matter to you?"

"'Cause." She said the word so heavy, sounded so sad, that Derek was momentarily taken aback. "I'm falling in love with you again."

It was the truth. Really, she knew, deep down, that despite what she'd been telling herself for years, she had never stopped being in love with him. And seeing him again, hearing him finally say those three monumental words to her had only succeeded in making the fact that she was in love with him, and would probably always be in love with him, all the more clear.

"Casey," he murmured, shocked. The past few years, Derek had been sure that she hated him. "I… Are you…" he cleared his throat and finally managed to spit something out. "Do you mean it?"

She nodded, almost reluctantly, and in five seconds he had closed the small distance between them and wrapped her up in a bear hug.

_God, it feels good being in his arms again._ "Don't ever let me go," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I won't" he promised, squeezing her a little tighter.

Everything almost felt right, but she needed one more thing. "Say it one more time, Derek. Say that you love me."

"I love you, Casey."

_Thanks goodness, 'cause God knows I do, love you, again._

THE END

A/N: I've wanted to do a fic for this song for a while now, and just the way ONO came about, this idea hit me a couple of hours ago. I hope you guys enjoyed it.


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